Australia's mainstays availability for West Indies tour in doubt

The Australian players who are featuring in the Indian Premier League might have to miss the ODI series against West Indies away from home slated to be played in mid-June. 

The players have to reach Australia 26 days before the team takes the flight to the Caribbean. The Australian government has suspended any flights from India till May 15 and any extension of this would mean that the availability of the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins would be difficult for the tour. 

“We’re monitoring it almost daily. There’s no doubt about that,” Langer said while speaking to Fox Cricket’s Road to the Ashes. “As it stands now, the guys will come back about 26 days before we’re supposed to leave for the West Indies tour, so we’ll be watching it closely.”

“And I think there’s no doubt the players will be watching it more closely with the time they’ve already spent away from their families in the past 12 months or so, and knowing what’s coming up,” Langer further added.

The IPL 2021 is slated to conclude on May 30 while the league stage will end on May 23. 

Earlier, three Australian players Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson and Andrew Tye had withdrawn from the IPL. But the two RCB recruits Zampa and Richardson are stuck in Mumbai after the suspension of Indian flights. 

Though, the Cricket Australia spokesperson had said that the board has been in talks with the Australian government to make an exception for the two cricketers. 


 

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